One Last Ride with the Doctor
by Dara Tavar
Summary: Ryan is a simple guy. Sure, he has a therapist and is working out some issues, but nothing serious...that is until a blue police box just appears in his living room one day, leaving him to think that he really has gone crazy. Time to make a phone call...to someone who might know what this blue box means...and to take the ride of a lifetime... Short one-shot. R&R please!


**Well, this isn't exactly what I'd had planned for this story...but I don't really remember what I'd had planned (I just had a general idea for what to do) and I'm a little distracted (watching Castle, and its 4 in the morning, so I'm tired). Anyways, I won't say anything else... Enjoy! **

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**One Last Ride with the Doctor**

Ryan paced around his living room, trying to take calming breaths as he worked to still his rapidly beating heart. He stopped, turning to look across the room before muttering incoherently to himself once more and dropping onto his couch.

His eyes remained locked across the room, as though he were afraid to look away for fear that what he was staring at would disappear before his eyes.

Slowly, he began to speak to himself, rationalizing with himself in a way to calm down further. "Okay," he began in a quiet voice, "so there's a blue police box in the middle of my living room, in my apartment, on the tenth floor of the building. There's no way it could have actually been brought up here—that's a completely ridiculous notion, too ridiculous to actually happen. It couldn't have been carried up the stairs, it wouldn't have fit in the elevator—that's closed anyways—and it most definitely wouldn't have fit through the door."

He gave a slight nod and leaned forward, but his eyes remained locked on the blue box that was the focus of his attention. "Since this is too ridiculous to happen, it must be my imagination and thus it is a problem for my therapist to figure out with me."

Once more he nodded, but then mild anguish set in again. "I only wish that I could have imagined that box somewhere other than in front of the phone so I could actually call my therapist to talk this over with her."

Taking a deep breath, Ryan slowly rose from the couch and moved to the door not far from the police box. Twisting the knob, he pulled the door open and, after hesitating for only a moment more before stepping out into the hall and moving across to his neighbor's door.

He knocked and waited, moving over and peeking back into his apartment just to make sure that the box hadn't disappeared. When he confirmed that it was still there, he moved back to the other door just as his neighbor, Tom, opened up in greeting.

"Hey, Ryan! What's up man?" he asked with a quick grin.

"Hey, Tom," he replied, forcing a smile. "Can I use your phone?"

"Sure—but, if you don't mind my asking, what's wrong with your phone?" Tom asked in response as he moved out of the way and gestured for his friend to enter. He led him to the cordless phone and handed it to him.

"Oh, it's just that there's…something in the way," he mumbled, quickly dialing the number that he knew by heart and moving a little closer to the door. He'd check soon to make sure that the police box was still there.

"Dr. Costas," he began when her voice came across the line, relief in his voice. "I have something to tell you, a little problem I need your help sorting out." He moved across the hall as she spoke to him. When she asked him a question, he replied quickly as he moved back in to his own living room. "I couldn't call on my phone; it's sort of blocked right now. By what? Well, that's simple—there's a telephone box in my living room. Since I know that the idea of it really being there is ridiculous, I know it must be my imagination. The only problem is, I can't get it to go away."

"Can you tell me more about this telephone box?" she asked in a soothing voice.

"Well, it's actually a police telephone box. It's tall and blue with a light on the top," he explained to her as he studied it. He went in to great deal about it, describing everything that he could, even reading off the sign on the door to her while she remained eerily quiet. "And it just showed up in my living room. I heard this noise—"

She made the noise across the line and asked in an excited voice, "Is that what it sounded like before it appeared?"

"Yeah," he replied slowly, frowning to himself. "How did you know?"

"I'll be right there, Ryan. Don't go anywhere and don't let that police box disappear from your living room. This is very important, Ryan."

Before Ryan could ask her anything, he heard the dial tone that indicated that she'd hung up on him. He quickly returned the phone to Tom, then moved back into the living room and seated himself on the couch. His eyes remained locked on the blue box in front of him.

Several minutes had passed when the door suddenly opened and a man in a bow tie stepped out, followed by a tall redhead and another man…

Greta hurried down the street, excitement swelling inside her. It had been years since she'd seen him, years since she'd heard anything from him…and here he seemed to basically land in her lap. What were the chances of him landing himself in the middle of her most needy patient's living room?

She wasn't giving up this chance. She was going to go over to Ryan's place. She would find him and talk to him. And there was no way she was going to just let him disappear from her life before she had a chance to see him again.

She took the steps two at a time because the elevator was closed. She would have taken the steps three at a time it she would have been able to manage it, but she just couldn't do it—she attempted to, but almost fell flat on her face for trying it.

It was a little while before she reached the tenth floor, and she was out of breath by the time she manage it. She moved to the door of Ryan's apartment and knocked quickly on it, trying to catch her breath again.

Ryan opened the door and looked at her for a long moment, uncertainty on his face. "There's a blue police box that appeared in my living room earlier today—which is ridiculous. Not long ago, three people came out of that box and have since been sitting in my living room drinking tea with me and telling me of grand adventures that I don't think I could possibly have imagined… And I don't think this all came from my head anymore—I don't know how, but this is real."

Greta grinned at him, reaching out to touch Ryan's arm. "I am so proud of you—finally, you're having your breakthrough. And you're right, this isn't all from your imagination. This is real, and right now I have to go speak to that man in there and give him a piece of my mind. But we'll talk more on this soon."

"Doctor!" she called out, moving into Ryan's apartment. She reached the living room in time to see two people disappearing into the Tardis' open door and a young man standing beside it. This wasn't the face that she was used to, but she recognized his eyes in an instant. Old eyes in a young face, just like he'd had before.

"Coming, Greta?" he asked with a quick smile. "One last run for old time's sake…and you too, Ryan," he called out, looking past her. He motioned for them to follow his and held the Tardis' door open.

Greta took a long breath, staring at the man before her. This wasn't her Doctor anymore…this man was different, and yet he was the same. But would she really be able to pass up this opportunity? One last run with the Doctor…one last chance to travel the universe and see worlds that se few on this planet had ever gotten to visit…

Ryan grabbed her hand, sending her a tiny smile as he pulled her forward and trough the blue doors and into a box that was bigger on the inside…for one last ride with the Doctor…


End file.
